An Evening with a Legend of Contemporary Music, Pierre Boulez

Category: Photo coverage, Videos

One of the most anxiously awaited events of this year’s Festival was the concert by the legend of contemporary music, Pierre Boulez, and ‘his‘ Ensemble intercontemporain from Paris. To find out what Boulez has to say about his composition, sur Incises, which had its Czech premiere last night, and to find out how the evening went in general, have look at the video, download the programme note or read the article…

As the members from the Ensemble intercontemporain demonstrated at the Prague Spring once before, in 2006 (http://old.festival.cz/…ram9b8d.html?…), they are amongst the best in the performance of twentieth and twenty-first-century music. Expectations were all the greater this year because this time one of the founders of the ensemble, Pierre Boulez, an icon of music of the second half of the twentieth century, was coming too.

From the opening notes it was clear that this concert would again be an opportunity to hear something truly out of the ordinary, not only in terms of the selection of compositions, but also, indeed mainly, in terms of interpretation. Boulez’s gestures as conductor are economical, restrained, like the music itself. And although the compositions of Varѐse or Donatoni may have been particularly demanding on the powers of concentration of some members of the audience, the high quality of the interpretation was widely appreciated, as was evident from the thundering applause. György Ligeti’s Concerto de chambre, a work full of fascinating rhythms, timbres, and instrument combinations, clearly won the hearts of the audience.

In the second half of the programme, the audience were treated to the Czech premiere of Boulez‘s own sur Incises. This composition, for three pianos, three harps, and three percussionists, conjures up truly unique aural raw material, which Boulez superbly exploits. These three trios of lovely instruments arranged symmetrically on stage were also a visual treat (see the photos from the concert). With a long-lasting standing ovation the audience suitably rewarded Boulez the composer and Boulez the vital conductor (now eighty-five years old) and his ensemble for their uncompromisingly high-quality interpretation.

We are delighted that the Prague Spring could host such an exceptional event. This is, after all, what the Festival is really about.

For more on the concert, see the Opera Plus website:http://translate.google.com/translate?… (via Google Translator).

You can download the programme note here.